Hello everyone,

I'm putting together a 30-06 load for a friend to hunt Wisconsin deer. Mostly it will be a brush load, but there are chances to take a shot up to 300 yards too.

My friend is fairly new to hunting, and I want to make sure he doesn't "blow up" a lighter weight bullet. And because he won't be doing a lot of shooting during the year (though I want to encourage him to shoot a lot!), I want to use an accurate bullet. Also, because we're only talking Whitetails, I don't think he needs a premium, at least not at conventional '06 velocities.

All that said, I'm thinking about a round-nose 180 grainer.

I did a brief search...and Hornady looks good. But I'm also wondering about Speer's rendition? It has a little better b.c., while still exposing a lot of lead at the tip. Some have found it "a little hard," though, which concerns me on sub 200 lb. Whitetail.

What would you use?

Thanks!

friar

P.s Cross-posted in Reloading and Med-bores

I have shot a fair few head of game with the speer 180 gr RN out of a 30/06and it was a lot harder bullet than I thought it would/should be................have a few left here and thought I might load a couple in the .300 RUM one day just to see if the speed of that will make them expand better.

Go with the Hornady, why wonder if the Speer will work.

Hey Friar, Great 180gr bullet and same for the Hornady version.

If you would get him to buy an archery target with the skeletal outline on it so he knows where the shoulder is located and have him shoot for that, he will do fine and get Exits as well.

But, I've found the 165gr bullets to be about perfect for the 30-06 velocities in the Speer Hot-Cor, Speer Boattails, Hornady Interlocks, Remington Cor-Lokts and Nosler Ballistic Tips. Only problem at the 165gr weight is locating a RN to start with.

Dropping down to the 150gr RNs, they do well at 30-06 velocities if you "avoid" a shoulder bone on the way in. If the Deer is close, chances of getting an Exit are significantly reduced.
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By the way, I'd encourage you to invite your friend over and show him how to do the Reloading rather than you doing it for him. If something happened to him when shooting them, which may have nothing to do with the cartridge, his insurance company would still feel obligated to try and make a recovery of their expenditures through your billfold.

friar,

I also wanted a blunt bullet for short-range night time piggie bashing. I tried both the Hornady 180 RN and the Speer 180 RN in my .30/06 Sprg.

Out of my rifle the Hornady's ended up being considerably more accurate than the Speer's so I went with them. I would consider both bullets to be pretty similar on a terminal performance scale.

The 180 gr. Hornady's with 55.0 grs of H4350 AOL'ed to the middle of the cannelure give me three-shot clover-leaf accuracy and have given me solid terminal performance on wide variety of game from small Roe Deer, Fallow Deer, Red Stags & Hinds through Wild Boar. Like you say, not exactly today's sexy premium bullets but they work exceptionally well in my opinion without the premium price tag.

I consider the performance just about right, not too "hard" and not too "soft".

Of more concern to you than which bullet should be getting him to the range for practice. A gut shot deer is a gut shoot deer regardless of which bullet you use.

Thanks for the comments, everyone!

Your points are well taken regarding the
1. reloading process/risk and
2. getting him to shoot as much as possible.

Unfortunately, his wife, while supportive of him going hunting once a year, is completely adamant he not keep a firearm in the house. Totaly irrational, I know; my friend tells me she got mixed up in a convience store armed robbery as a young child, and has been terrified ever since (for real!).

That said, I think, with time, she'll come around...but that change might be even slower coming than changes at church! We'll see.

For now, I've stopped asking him to ask his wife for permission to have a gun. I simply went out and bought him a used 30-06. Always easier to ask forgiveness than permission!

Again, thanks for your comments, and take care,

friar

Friar, I would agree with those that recommended the Hornady RN. They work well in my 308 and 30-06. Rick Jameson did testing with various 308 bullets at the same pressures and the Hornady RN ended up the accuracy winner, even over the match bullets. That matches my experience, they are just not as aerodynamic, so beyond 250 yards they fall off much faster than pointed bullets.

Friar:

I hunt in MN with a .308 and use 180 grain pointed bullets. MN is close range shooting, but it isn't uncommon to shoot across a clear cut. Why limit yourself?

AnotherAZ,

That's certainly true; and for myself I pump up my 270 with 130's as hot as I can still get moa.

But my friend has very little experience shooting, even rimfire. He lives in the Twin Cities, so I can't get him up here to practice much either.

The good news is that, while he could be presented with a clear cut shot in WI, I can also put him in a stand where he couldn't shoot more than 170 yards or so.

Certainly, if (when!) he becomes more proficient, we'll change him over to something pointy

Good luck this season!

friar

Any standard lead core bullet from 150 up 180 will do fine. Pointed or Round Nose.

The difference in trajectory of a round nose vs a spire point vs a balllistic tip with a 30-06 is minimal at 300 yds.

from "Loads From a Disk" Trajectory calculator

180 Nosler BT @ 2800 fps sighted in for a max height of + 3 inches gives -4.97 at 300 yds.
Zero at 237 yds.

180 Hornady SP @ 2800 fps sighted in for a max height of + 3 inches gives -5.57 at 300 yds.
Zero 233 yds

180 Speer RN @ 2800 fps sighted in for a max height of + 3 inches gives -7.12 at 300 yds.
Zero 225yds

A whole 2.15 inch difference at 300 yards.

Try shooting from a hunting situation at 300 yds and see if you can hold a 3" group.
Not many can do it.

The actual test I have seen written up in the gun rags indicates that if you hit a branch or small twig with a big game hunting bullet before you reach the target, all bets are off, regardles or bullet profile or caliber. It's totally random as to where the bullet goes.
And I believe the tests.

My choice for your situation would be a standard flat base 165 spire point. Hornady, Speer, Sierra, Remington PSP, Winchester Power Point.

In my experience
Flat base standard bullets hold togather better than boat tails when hitting bone.
The 165 will recoil less than the 180 making it easier to shoot and practice with.
The 165 gives a good compromise between velocity, ballistic Coef., sectional density, and recoil in a 30-06.
I don't know of an inexpensive bullet being made in the 165 RN.
Remington 165 PSP bullets shoot just as good as any premium bullet I have tried in my 30-06
I have taken Whitetails with good results, 10 to 300 yds with the 308 Win and 30-06 using

150 Remington PSP
150 Winchester Powerpoint
150 Federal whatever they call it
150 Speer Mag tip
165 Hornady spire point
180 Hornady spire point
180 Nosler Accubond
And some I don't even remember.

They all worked great.

My next deer with the 30-06 will be with either a 165 or 180 Remington PSP

You will be hard pressed to pick a bad bullet if you stay between 150 grains and 180 grains in the 30-06

Trigger:

Get out your calculator...drop isn't a big deal when shooting at long range - but the wind is. That round nose bullet drifts 10 inches in a 10 mph wind; the pointed one is less than 4 inches.

The wind causes long range misses a lot more often than folks realize - esp those who don't get to shoot at 300 let alone farther.

quote:

Get out your calculator...drop isn't a big deal when shooting at long range - but the wind is. That round nose bullet drifts 10 inches in a 10 mph wind; the pointed one is less than 4 inches.

The wind causes long range misses a lot more often than folks realize - esp those who don't get to shoot at 300 let alone farther.

No argument on that one. I agree with you.

Most folks get hung up on bullet drop and never conisder wind. The calculator is only an estimate anyway. If you plan on shooting at 300 yds - practice at 300 yds - a lot. Know where your rifle/bullet combo really hits at 300 yds.

Bottom line - the shooter that takes a 300 yd shot - owes it to game being shot at to know and understand the affects of the environment on the point of impact.